Phanteks Enthoo Primo Case Review

Is there such thing as a perfect case? Regardless of who you ask, the answer will likely be a firm “no”. While some enclosures come close, very few, if any can be considered optimal for gamers, let alone water cooling enthusiasts. The issue lies with supplying something for everyone and very few case manufacturers can balance that approach. Phanteks on the other hand is trying to do just that with the Enthoo Primo, a case that may have an odd name but may very well be one of the best enclosures ever created.

Phanteks has been making a name for themselves in the air cooling market with several strong products but certainly isn’t known for their cases. Indeed, the Enthoo Primo is actually their first true outing into this cluttered and highly competitive market. But what they lack in experience has been more than made up for in execution this time around.

Unlike the competition, which have typically released the lion’s share of their cases in the more affordable mid-range “gaming” segment, Phanteks is shooting straight for the most demanding consumers: people who place water cooling options above all else. With that in mind, the Primo is a full tower enclosure with a ridiculous number of water cooling options and a suitably high price of about $249.

Judging from the Enthoo Primo’s exterior, you’d never guess this is Phanteks’ first case. They’ve successfully shied away from the horribly gaudy designs that typically try to play into gamers’ mindsets and have instead focused their efforts on building a, large, functional, well designed, high quality yet suitably understated chassis. The end result is slightly monolithic in its approach but that’s just because its major design elements lie within.

One of the primary outside-facing elements is the large side window which is perfectly integrated yet still affords an excellent view into the case’s interior. There’s also a large glossy strip that houses all of the I/O connectors as well as the power and reset buttons.

Moving along to the inside, Phanteks has really gone to town. There’s room for multiple 240mm and 360mm radiators with multiple mounting options, dedicated areas for pumps, cable tie downs for the clean build everyone looks for and even a pair of power supply locations. The list goes on and on and for water cooling enthusiasts, it really doesn’t get any better than this.

Unfortunately, there are just so many features here and just such a wide variety of both water and air cooling options that this short written overview just can’t take them all into account. So, make sure to watch our video review above since it goes over every element that makes the Enthoo Primo one of, if not the best case currently on the market.